


Take a Chance

by TheSilenceIsFalling



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: JackRabbit - Freeform, M/M, Polyamorous Relationships, Soulmate AU, frostbunny - Freeform, pining!Aster, polamorous relationships, the soulmate au where you get visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 12:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8207995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilenceIsFalling/pseuds/TheSilenceIsFalling
Summary: Aster was always a risk taker, but is he willing to risk a happy relationship and a friendship just so he can have a chance at love?





	

Visions are temperamental. You don’t always get to see what you want. Sometimes you don’t see anything; you just feel and hear things--like wisps of dreams. Mine was unusual. Despite their fur, pookas aren’t the most tolerant creatures when it comes to cold places so seeing snow was something unexpected. My vision was one of the more detailed ones. Sight, touch and sound were rare to have in one vision, even if all I saw and felt was snow and the icy touch of someone’s hand. The one part of the vision that stuck with me throughout my lifetime was the sound of laughter and joy. Sure, I’d heard laughter before but this just seemed brighter, full of life and just utterly perfect. When I told my parents about it they were happy for me, but I was just confused. I knew there was no place that cold on our planet. I’d always liked the idea of travelling the galaxies, but the thought of the person most perfect for me being somewhere out in the ever expanding universe was frightening. What if I never found them? What if they died before I could find them? My parents tried to assure me that if we are fated then we would find each other, but I was still afraid.

At some point in my long life I lost hope. It had been years, I had travelled to so many places, and yet I still had not found them. I grew angry. What was the point of having a vision, of creating false hope, if I was never going to find them? I ignored the vision. For all I know it could have been the daydreams of a child. At that point I went looking for love elsewhere, closer to home. I met many beings and creatures that I could have settled down with, but none who I adored more than Ash and Birch. While they weren’t my visioned mate they were kind to me, and didn’t want to be with me purely based on my family name and who my mother was. I may not have loved them with all my heart, that belonged to my visioned mate even despite my denial of it, but we shared something special. Mum didn’t like them. She was a firm believer in waiting for your destined, and didn’t like that I had essentially given up. She trusted my judgement, but told me that I shouldn’t bond with them, just in case I ever did find my destined. I didn’t like it, but she was older and wiser than I was; and I knew that if I never did find my destined then she would allow for Ash and Birch to bond with me. It irritated me when I was younger, but looking back on it, it was a good decision on her part.

The Pookas began to travel further and further out into the universe, discovering so many planets and so many different beings. We even discovered a colony of stars sitting on the edge of the universe. When we first found Earth we didn’t think much of it. It was a small planet that was mainly molten rock and heat. Even though it wasn’t much we kept an eye on it. Our own planet had been something similar in its creation, so maybe this small planet could be something big. It would take us light years to travel that far, so there were already expeditions being planned, volunteers being called forward. Considering my magic was based around growth and life, I was one of the Pooka specifically chosen for the first expedition. They wanted me to catalog the growth of the planet's flora and fauna.

It would take us years to reach the planet, so we were allowed to bring our families. Most of my siblings didn’t want to leave home. They had created their own burrows and families there and they didn’t see the need in uprooting themselves just to go to a young budding planet that might not have the resources to keep us alive. Mum and Dad were the only ones of my family to join me. They were old, but they wanted to see something different. Both had been great warriors, and they wanted to travel in their old age. Ash and Birch decided to join us as well. While it was unusual for non-bonded Pookas to travel that great a distance together, it wasn’t unheard of, and it helped that both Ash and Birch were experts in their respective fields. Ash was the top researcher on the development and evolution of all the sentient beings and creatures of the universe and Birch was an expert on atmospheres and weather.

We left two years after the expedition was brought to the public’s attention. It was hard. Serrenatora was all we’d ever known. It was home, and we were leaving it for a planet that might not even be able to sustain us. It was a big risk, but we were willing to take it. Pookas were the forward thinkers of the universe, we wouldn’t be stumped by some small planet on the outer edge of the farthest galaxy.

By the time we reached the small planet--it had taken years but we finally made it--it had already begun to develop. The creatures that lived on this planet were odd. They walked on two legs like Pookas, but they were furless and their limbs were thin and stick like. Ash was surprised that such creatures could exist and survive on this planet, considering its harsh and dangerous environments. Birch was fascinated by the planet’s atmosphere and weather patterns. I was more interested in the different plants and environments that could be found on the planet. It was just so different to Serrenatora. For one thing, there were places that were naturally cold, and half the planet was in one season while the other half was in a completely different season. The animals were fascinating as well. There was even a species that looked similar to Pookas. Mum loved them, she even kept some.

We settled down in a place that had a similar environment to Serrenatora. We built a massive network of tunnels and burrows, making dens for each Pooka that came with us, and more for the Pookas yet to join us. We started referring to it as the Warren. Ash wanted to call it the Burrow but mum vetoed that idea and christened it the Warren. We started integrating our technology into the Warren, making it seem more like home. We even managed to create a room that could send a signal back to Serrenatora to alert them to the fact that we had made it.

I became rather obsessed with a specific season on that small planet, which we later learnt was called Earth by its inhabitants. I didn’t understand at first why I felt so connected to this season but mum explained that it was due to my magic. This season was about rebirth and beginning again. I wanted to know what the creatures called this season, and so I began to sneak into their communities. I learned their languages and their histories. I learnt many things from these creatures, mainly that they called themselves humans and that the season that resonated with my magic so much was called Spring. I decided that I would study Spring more, and see what I could do to affect it. I began planting plants that I had brought from home. I started to use my magic to aid the ushering in of Spring. I didn’t notice, but my magic had begun to entwine with the latent magic of that planet, this brought me to the attention of the magical beings and spirits of Earth. One of these beings approached me one day, asking me something about being a Guardian of whatever. I wasn’t really listening when he asked me, or, more I wasn’t really looking when he tried to tell me, but I’m sure he left in a frustrated huff. I would have apologised but I was immersed in cataloguing all of the plants and animals on Earth.

I began to forget things. The more I focused on researching my effect on Earth, the less I paid attention to my family and the less I paid attention to Ash and Birch. I also forgot all about my vision and the fact that I was supposed to be looking for my destined mate. I realised that I was becoming distant from all those around me, but I never did much to fix it, not until many years after we arrived, when the second expedition joined us on Earth. The Pookas that joined us became fascinated with the humans and their culture, especially about the stories surrounding the magical beings of Earth. The first day they came back from exploring, they all looked at me in awe. I was very confused. What had I done to deserve being looked at in such a way? They told me of the stories the humans and the spirits had created about me. They called me the Herald of Spring, and there were the beginnings of a legend about the Easter Bunny. I wasn’t aware, but the gifts I had given to the humans had made them take an interest in me, and when I didn’t make myself fully known to them they created stories and myths to fill the holes in their knowledge. I realised then that I had created a crucial job for myself on this planet, and that now I was here it was unlikely I would ever be able to leave. I was the one to insure the beginning of Spring occured, and I was the one that made sure Winter was fully ushered away and towards the places it needed to be. I started getting the other Pookas to help me with the ushering in of Spring. I was only one Pooka, and I needed help, especially when I started to fuel the rumours of the Easter Bunny. At first I had no idea how to handle this. I wasn’t cut out to be a legend, to be a story the humans told to their young, but as I started to fuel the humans stories I felt myself grow stronger. It was amazing and brilliant. I asked Ash and Birch to help me with this new holiday, Easter, and they agreed. We had been lovers once, but the growing distance between me and them made it impossible for us to continue any further. I once thought that I would bond with them, but as per usual mum was right. We weren’t meant to be, and I was alright with that.

I didn’t notice, but all the Pookas in the Warren had stopped aging. We all looked almost exactly the same as we had when we arrived. It was disconcerting. Pookas only lived 100 years but here we were, alive for so much longer than that. It was sad to realise that we probably outlived our family back on Serrenatora by many years, but we had known that, that could happen and so were prepared for it.

That being approached me again, and this time I actually paid attention to what he was saying, and to what he was. I had never seen a star up close before but he was magnificent. He seemed to be made entirely out of sand and glowed with an internal light. He didn’t come alone like he had the time before. He brought with him a hulking man that stood silently behind him and stared. I learnt that their names were Sanderson Mansnoozie and Nicholas St. North. Sanderson explained to me what he and Nicholas were. They were Guardians of the human young. Sanderson was the Guardian of the human’s dreams, and Nicholas was the Guardian of the human’s wonder. Sanderson explained, with the help of Nicholas, that they wanted me to join them and become the Guardian of Hope. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join them. What was the point? I already had so much responsibility as the Herald of Spring that adding the protection of the humans young seemed like too much. I had said this to them and Nicholas laughed.

“You already are Guardian of Hope. Your spring brings hope to all in world. We are here to make official.” Sanderson had agreed with him and I reluctantly agreed to become a Guardian on a trial basis only. If it interfered with Spring too much then I would quit being a Guardian. I should have known that would never happen. I became highly protective of the humans young. They were innocent and could not protect themselves from spirits that wished them harm, and so I joined the Guardians permanently.

The next time Sandy found someone to join us I was sent to make the offer. It didn’t end well. Sandy forgot to mention that the person I was being sent to recruit was a warrior Queen who was highly suspicious of anyone that entered her Palace. It was a good thing that I was a Pooka, otherwise I may have lost more than just fur that day. By the time I found Sandy and chewed him out for not giving me a heads up I devised a plan to recruit the Fairy Queen without losing anymore fur. She was suspicious when I asked for a meeting with her, but her curious nature won out and she did indeed meet with me. I explained everything about the Gaurdians. Who we were, what we stood for, etc. Unlike me she didn’t have to think for long. She adored the human young and would do anything in her power to protect them from harm.

And so the Guardians became four. Each very different but all with one purpose in mind. To protect humans from the things they do not believe in and the things they cannot see.

And then came Jack Frost.

The first time I heard about him was when Ash was complaining about getting caught in a freak snowstorm while he was scouting out the best places to hide eggs in the town of Burgess.It didn’t last long but it freaked him out enough to make him come running back to the Warren. We all laughed at him and wondered what had caused this freak snowstorm. I started to ask around. Some of the other spirits had encountered these snowstorms as well, and most of them were just as confused as I was. Sandy was the one to finally explain to us what, or more who, was causing these storms. It seems that a new winter spirit had been born and had yet to gain control of their new powers. Ash grumbled when I told him, but seemed understanding enough. We were all young once, and none of us had control over our powers when we were young. Slowly the snowstorms started occurring less frequently. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Each of us in the Warren had gotten caught up in at least one of the storms by now, and we were grateful that the spirit was able to control their powers. We didn’t know much about the spirit, only that his name was Jack Frost and that many who had met him had nothing nice to say. The Warren’s inhabitants and I didn’t believe a lot of what was being said about this spirit, but as it was unlikely that we would ever meet him we would never be able to confirm or deny the rumours.

Then came spring of ‘68. I’d heard of the storm heading along the coast. The humans were worried by it due to it not being predicted by their ‘weathermen’. I was more worried about the impact it would have on Easter, and sure enough it ruined quite a few egg hunts. I wasn’t aware of this at first. I was keeping an eye on the googies as they made their way out of the tunnels, and so it took Birch rushing back to the Warren, yelling that Ash had gotten into a fight with the elusive Jack Frost all because he was the cause of the storm.I was understandably furious. I made sure mum was around so that she could keep an eye on the googies progress through the tunnels and rushed to Ash’s aid. I won’t ever admit it to him, but as soon as I arrived I wanted to laugh. Ash, a fully grown Pooka warrior who had served in the military for many years, was getting his ass kicked by a scrappy human with a stick. Birch immediately jumped to Ash’s defence, whereas I just stood back and watched for a while. It was obvious the kid, who I now knew was Jack Frost, had never had much experience fighting. His movements were choppy and sharp, but he had a natural fighting stance and used anything and everything to his advantage. It was pretty amusing to watch Ash and Birch get their asses kicked, but I knew I’d have to step in at some point and discipline the winter spirit for not only interfering with Spring, but also interfering with a Guardian’s holiday.

I admit I could have handled it better. He didn’t seem like a bad kid, and the fact that he was able to take on two fully grown and trained Pookas was admirable; but he needed to realise that messing with Spring and Easter was just not on. Threatening him and yelling at him probably wasn’t the best choice, but I never said I was level-headed. I regretted it as soon as I did it, but by the time I realised I should apologise the kid was gone. After that he started causing more trouble for me and the others in the Warren. It wasn’t anything big. Small pranks here and there. He became known as the Warren Trickster, and most, if not all, of the Pookas living in the Warren held some sort of fondness for Jack Frost. Mum wanted to bring him here, give him a home and a place to feel safe. She was the one most other spirits went to with the rumours about Jack Frost. She was the one to realise that he was all alone, and that most spirits didn’t like him. No one knew where he lived or slept, and mum made it her mission to find him and give him a home.

I myself never saw him again, not until he was named the next Guardian, and wasn’t that a surprise. Despite what Ash and Birch had been saying I didn’t hate the kid. I felt mild annoyance at the mention of his name, but other than that I felt nothing towards the kid. When I told Ash and Birch about Frost’s new position in the spirit world they laughed.

“Why would they let that snow brat be a Guardian? He’s a good-for-nothing child that creates snowstorm and snow days just to inconvenience you and enjoys being reckless.” While I didn’t agree with most of what they said, some of it held truth. He did create snow at the most inconvenient times and he did seem reckless, but if he was to be a Guardian, then there must be something he brings to children. I would trust in the Moon, but I would remain wary.

It was nice to be proven wrong for once. Reckless he may be, but the amount of joy and laughter he brought to kids was astounding. He also helped us realise that we were spending too much time trying to keep kids believing in us that we forgot to pay attention to the kids themselves. Jack was essential in the fight against Pitch. If we hadn’t of had Jack on our side then I can’t even begin to imagine the damage and darkness Pitch would have been able to bring to Earth. Jack proved himself to be a spirit worthy of the title of Guardian of Joy, and the Herald of Winter. He was also the one to make me realise how much I’d been neglecting my own people. I started to spend more time with my parents, and even more time with Ash and Birch. It’s a good thing that they were so understanding. I had once thought that I would bond with Ash and Birch, but the more time I spent with them the more I realised that we just weren’t suited to one another. They were harsh in their judgements and even with Jack having proven himself they still labelled him a child. I told them that it was doubtful we would be anything more than friends now, and they seemed to understand.

“Don’t worry so much, Evergreen. Ash and I already knew that we weren’t going to bond and settle down with you. You still have your destined mate to find after all, we were just never meant to be. Go find your destined, Evergreen. Who knows, they might even be on this planet.” Mum was semi-ecstatic when she found out that I had left Ash and Birch, but she also knew that it had been hard for me. We had been together for so long and yet now we weren’t.

“Evergreen you were always going to leave them. You are one of the few to have the vision; you would not have been given that vision if you weren’t going to find your destined.” I knew she was right, but I had hoped that maybe I wouldn’t need to find my destined to be in a happy relationship. Mum made me promise that I would at least try to find them, and I agreed. Knowing my luck I would have to wait 200 years to find him. As luck would have it, it only took three. Jack had taken it upon himself to get the Guardian’s together every so often so that we could visit Burgess and hang around the kids.

We were having a snowball fight when it happened. All of the Guardians but Jack and I had left at this point, and we were letting the kids win for once. Jack and I were leaning on each other laughing, the kids had just retreated to their crudely made snowfort because Jack had decided to give us endless snowballs. Most of the kids were covered head to foot in snow and it was just such a funny sight. It was so funny that I slipped on some of the snow and grabbed Jack, trying to stop myself from falling, but I just brought him down with me. I landed on my back laughing and Jack landed on top of me laughing as well. I looked at Jack, grinning, before stopping and staring. The vision came back to me, making me gasp. The feeling of ice and snow and oh that blue! I grabbed Jack’s hips instinctively and just stared. It couldn’t be. Jack couldn’t be my destined. I had known him for years and I never knew! How could I not have known? He smiled at me.

He looked confused, and I realised that he was trying to get off of me. I released him and looked away, slowly standing. This was something unexpected, and I had no idea what to do next. I continued playing with the kids but I was distracted. I left, giving the excuse that I needed to explore some ideas I had for my googies. As soon as I got to the Warren I sought out Mum. She would know what to do, she always did.

“Evergreen, you’ve been waiting for your mate for years, and you’re coming to me to ask what you need to do? Court the boy! Show him you care and show him that you can provide and be a good mate to him. I know what you will say, ‘But Ma what if he doesn’t want to be courted? What if he doesn’t like me back?’ You now what I have to say to this Aster? Take the risk. Pookas gain nothing without taking risks. You may not love this boy right now but he is your destined, and you are meant to be. Woo him. Show him how a Pooka treats the one they love.” Mum was right, of course. Pookas are risk takers, it’s how we managed to do anything, go anywhere.

I knew I probably needed to get Noth’s permission to court Jack. North had become rather protective and fatherly towards him in the past years, and so if I even thought about courting Jack without his blessing I knew he’d be after me with his swords. The conversation with North was certainly… eventful. Never have I been that scared of him. His use of the ice saw was… certainly creative. At least I eventually got his blessing. Apparently he thought I was already going to pursue Jack due to the ‘longing looks’ I had been sending him recently.

Sandy and Tooth cornered me later that day. North, the gumby, had told them of my intentions to court Jack. Both wished me luck, and both threatened me with incredibly painful and long-term injuries if I hurt Jack. It was nice to see that Jack had so many people looking out for him, but the graphic descriptions of how they were going to hurt me if I hurt him was unnecessary in my opinion.

It took me a while but eventually I gathered the courage to ask Jack if I would be allowed to court him. I made sure that all of the Pookas were out of the Warren, and that the Guardians knew not to disturb us for a little while. I knew that this would go one of two ways. Either Jack would run away, laughing and mocking me for ever believing that he could return my affections, or he would agree to the courting. I was hoping for the latter obviously.

The first courting gift was usually something that held a lot of significance to you, so I decided to give him the first blade I had ever received. It was a simple blade, but Mum had given this to me when I had turned ten, when I had first started training. It had evergreen trees and aster flowers carved into the wooden.

Eventually Jack arrived at the Warren. I was sitting in the Glade when I felt the wards alert me to him entering the tunnels. I was nervous. Jack was my destined but if he rejected me then there would be nothing I could do about it. I would be alone, knowing that I wasn’t good enough for my mate.

When he found me Jack sat beside me. I didn’t speak for a while, I just enjoyed his presence. I knew I would have to say something soon, he got nervous when someone was quiet for too long, but I was scared.

I started talking slowly, explaining how most Pookas have destined mates, and how sometimes we got glimpses of these people through visions. I described how Mum and Dad got together, and how I had a vision when I was younger. I described the vision to him. I told him he was my destined, and I handed him the blade.

“Pookas give courting gifts as a way to mark what stage the relationship is at. We’re at the beginning, and if you choose to accept it then this relationship can become something so much more.” I held out the blade to him, closed my eyes, and waited for him to either grab it and accept it or leave. I was surprised when I felt him grab the blade and then pull me into a hug.

“You sure took long enough,” he laughed. I grinned and laughed with him. Seems like I didn’t have to worry after all.


End file.
